Takeout (Take Me Out)
by riptidedauntlessgryffindor
Summary: Frank was fine with staying home for the summer. He was fine with working at his grandmother's takeout shop. He was even fine with not having any friends. However, he was not fine when he met Hazel. Or when he learned that she had a boyfriend. And especially not fine when he realized he was in love with her. So now Frank's life is a mess and he needs to fix it. The question is how?


**Hi guys! Welcome to the world of Frazel!**

 **This story was written by my friend from camp. She is an amazing writer.**

 **Enjoy! Reviews are awesome!**

 **-SOS**

It was a hot and sticky summer day, and Frank didn't know why he bothered working in his grandmother's Chinese takeout store anyway. He didn't earn any money, but he was living with his grandmother. After his mom died in the war after his dad left, she was the only family he had left, so he felt like he needed to do anything to help her. Since he spent so much time with school and helping with the shop, he never really got to meet people, but that was fine for him. He considered himself one of life's socially awkward people, and being around people was really not something he liked.

Anyway, on this hot summer day, Frank was standing at the register of the shop for six hours - from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm - and there hadn't been any customers. It was a great way to waste his Saturdays, but then again, he had nothing to do anyways. The shop wasn't air-conditioned - something Frank insisted that his grandmother didn't have to pay for - and Frank was sure that he had sweat so much that he so bad that even the cooking could mask. So poor Frank was basically melting in the heat, barely surviving the late afternoon sunlight drifting in through the tall side windows. Suddenly, a girl stepped in the front door. Frank was sure time had stopped when he saw her. She couldn't be more than 16, her height and t-shirt saying,"Faircliff High School Sophomore" giving it away.

She had curly light brown hair, skin that had the color of milk chocolate, and dark brown eyes dotted with specks of gold. Frank thought she was stunning, but, being him, had never had experience with girls. So he had no idea how to talk to her.

"Hey Chinese takeout guy," the girl smiled. She even has beautiful teeth, thought Frank staring at her dazzling pearly whites," What's your special today?"

"W-We, um, have um... orange chicken with fried rice and some ho-hot and sour soup," stuttered Frank. He resisted the urge to use a pickup line someone had taught him: "The only thing special here is you."

"Ok, I'll take that. And please make it snappy!" the girl snapped her fingers, as if she could somehow make the food appear just like that. Frank ignored this and called the order back to his grandmother, who started to cook immediately. After an awkward silence, the girl began to speak.

"My name's Hazel, what's yours?"

Frank nervously mumbled, "It's Frank," ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

"Cool," she nodded looking around before facing back to him, "Sorry about being in such a rush, it's just my boyfriend is coming over for the first time and me being a horrible cook, broke the oven, so I heard about this great takeout store from a friend and here I am," Hazel rambled, smiling in an embarrassed way. Oh, she had a boyfriend, Frank thought disappointedly.

"It's okay, I'll make sure you get your food fast," Frank found himself saying.

"No it's fine," assured Hazel, "I like talking to you." Frank wasn't sure if those words fit together very well. Frank Zhang. Talking. But he smiled and nodded, trying to hid his anxiousness.

"So why are you working here?" Hazel questioned, trying to keep the conversation going. Frank didn't know what invisible force was helping him speak in front of a person, let alone a girl. But he began to tell Hazel every reason on why he was working at the shop, which he didn't know if that was really a good thing.

"My mom died in a war after my dad left and I've been living with my grandmother ever since. I owe so much to her so I try to help her as much as I can. She's the chef here and I work the counter. I like it here, though it gets super hot in the summer.

"Oh, I'm so sorry...," Hazel said. There was another silence. "Speaking of your grandmother, is that her waving out to you from the kitchen?" Frank turned his head and saw his grandmother, signaling to him that the food was ready. He nodded and excused himself, then carried the food back to Hazel.

"Bye Frank," Hazel said, walking out the door. "See you soon." And as she walked away, Frank had so many nice thoughts about this girl that he had to keep reminding himself that she had a boyfriend and she probably wasn't interested in him anyway.

But he had hope.

The next day, Hazel rushed back to the Chinese takeout shop, only to learn it was closed on Sundays. Disappointed, she scribbled down a quick note, slipped it under the door and rushed back to her boyfriend who was waiting in the car. As she ran over, Hazel had so many good thoughts about that boy that she had to keep reminding herself that she had a boyfriend and he probably wasn't interested in her anyway


End file.
